Thorbjørn Olesen

When he was born in 1989 in Hareskovby, no Dane was even listed in the Official World Golf Ranking. It took another seven years until Thomas Bjørn became the first Dane to even win on the European Tour. While Bjørn went on to become the most prolific Danish winner on the European Tour, Thorbjørn made his way through the ranks. After he turned professional in 2008, it didn't take him long to make his mark. After only a few weeks, he won the ECCO Tour Qualification and, after three wins in 2009, made the jump to the Challenge Tour. He didn't take long to move even higher, winning The Princess event in Sweden and finishing third in the yearlong ranking to graduate to the European Tour.

His rocket-like rise continued with a second place in his first start in the big leagues. The first win finally came on April Fool's Day in 2012 at the Sicilian Open, but Thorbjørn quickly proved that it was no joke. He finished 9th at the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes, where he was paired with his idol Tiger Woods and held his own. A few months later he even bettered this performance by finishing sixth at the Masters in Augusta.

Olesen's biggest wins came at the 2016 Turkish Airlines Open and the 2018 Italian Open, two of the most high-profile tournaments on the European Circuit. This win and his steady play gained Thorbjørn one of the spots for the European Ryder Cup Team in Paris, which was fittingly captained by his compatriot Thomas Bjørn. During the convincing 17.5:10.5 win, Olesen put the colour blue on the leaderboard by dominating none other than Jordan Spieth in their singles.

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After a career slide during the Covid pandemic that saw him fall out of the Top 500 in the World, Thorbjørn got his fighting spirit back during a resurgent 2022 season. In May, he won the British Masters and finished the year as 26th in the Race to Dubai. Since then, he has won every year on the DP World Tour, his latest success coming at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship where he beat compatriot Rasmus Hojgaard by six strokes. By finishing 9th and 13th in the Race to Dubai in 2023 and 2024 respectively, Thorbjørn gained membership on the PGA Tour, where he has already made good strides towards retaining his membership by finishing 5th at the Valero Texas Open and 7th at the Myrtle Beach Classic.